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Inspectors carried out the visits at the Nando's, both in Western Austrailia, in 2016 and then again last year.

An audit of one of the restaurants said: "Extremely high rodent activity present. Cleaning and adequate pest control required."

The other found cleanliness was "below required standards" and the overall standard of cleaning "must improve".

Nando's was fined around £11,500 for the convictions.

Boxes were piled high outside the restaurant

A spokesman said the chain was "very disappointed with these convictions".

She told Yahoo the restaurant giant had implemented a number of measures, which included staff training to understand food safety practices, cleaning and maintenance guidelines.

Last year Nando's was fined £40,000 after a rotting mouse carcass was found in one of its restaurants.

Environmental Health Officers found mouse droppings in every area of a branch of the popular chicken chain other than the manager’s office during a routine inspection.

The restaurant chain said it was "extremely disappointed" with the convictions

The UK arm of the South African company, Nando’s Chickenland Ltd, was hit with a £40,000 fine at Liverpool Magistrates' Court last year after admitting two breaches of food safety law at the chain's Liverpool One branch.

Johnathan Ball, prosecuting on behalf of Liverpool City Council, said: “Officers began their inspection in the rear kitchen.

"Mouse droppings were clearly visible to officers on the floor surface next to the stainless steel preparation table

“The storage racking in this area was being used to store food preparation equipment.

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Nandos was fined £40,000 after a rotting mouse carcass was found in a restaurant in Liverpool (Image: Nando's)

"On the floor surface under the racking officers discovered a build-up of food debris alongside further mouse droppings.”

The court heard the inspection moved on to an overspill kitchen where a large amount of mouse droppings, mixed with food debris, were found on the floor beneath cooking equipment.

Mr Ball said: “The rear grille of the counter fridge was inspected. Officers discovered a dead, decomposing mouse next to the compressor unit.

“The rear motor housing of the fridge units located along the front counter were inspected and officers discovered a build-up of food debris and mouse droppings in that location.”

Mouse droppings were found across the restaurant in Liverpool (Image: Liverpool Echo)

Mark Watson, representing Nando’s, said it had changed its pest control contractor after concerns that Ecolab, the company used at the time of the offences, had not flagged up an issue with pests on the same day as the inspection.

He said: “As you will be aware the company operates 386 separate premises throughout the UK and has done so for a number of years.

“This is its first prosecution for an offence and its standards of hygiene are generally very very high.”

Mr Watson said the company accepted full responsibility for the offences but stated it was an “isolated and uncharacteristic breach.”

He told the court Nando’s management felt there was a “unique” issue relating to mice in the common areas of the Liverpool ONE complex, in comparison with other shopping centres in the UK.

*An earlier version of this article wrongly said Nando's was fined at Liverpool Magistrates' Court today. The article has been updated to make clear the case took place last year.